"Shokichi Natsui The International Judo Federation (IJF) was founded in 1951, and five years later IJF organized the first World Judo Championships, held in Tokyo on 5 March 1956. Natsui and his teammate Yoshimatsu, both policemen, were the two highest-ranked judoka at the championship; the 36-year-old Yoshimatsu held the rank of nanadan (7th dan), and Natsui rokudan (6th dan), while Pariset from France held yondan (4th dan), and future three-time world champion Anton Geesink from the Netherlands held sandan (3rd dan). The 1956 championship had 31 competitors from 21 countries. In the first round Natsui took only 3 seconds to"
"Anton Geesink Antonius Johannes Geesink (6 April 1934 – 27 August 2010) was a Dutch 10th dan judoka. He was the first non-Japanese judoka to win gold at the World Judo Championship, a feat he accomplished in 1961 and 1965. He was also an Olympic Champion, having won gold at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Japan, and won a record 21 European Judo Championships during his career. Geesink took up judo aged 14 and by 17 started competing internationally, winning a silver medal in 1951. The following year, he won his first European title. Through to 1967, twenty more European"
"titles followed. At the 1956 World Championships, Geesink was eliminated in the semi-finals against Yoshihiko Yoshimatsu. At the 1961 World Championships, Geesink, then 5th dan, became World Champion in the open class, defeating the Japanese champion Koji Sone. Japanese judokas had won all the World Championship titles contested up to that point. Judo debuted as an official sport at the 1964 Summer Olympics, which were held in the sport's home country, Japan. Although Japan dominated three of the four weight divisions (light, middle and heavy), Anton Geesink won the final of the open weight division, defeating Akio Kaminaga in front"
"of his home crowd. After winning the 1965 World Championships and a last European title in 1967, Geesink quit competitive judo. Anton Geesink was one of the few 10th Dan grade judoka (jūdan) recognized by the IJF but not by Kodokan at that rank. Promotions from 6th to 10th Dan are awarded for services to the sport of judo. In 2010 there are three living 10th dan grade judoka (jūdan) recognized by Kodokan: Toshiro Daigo, Ichiro Abe and Yoshimi Osawa. The Kodokan has not awarded the 10th Dan to anybody outside Japan. In October 1973, ""All Japan Pro Wrestling"" owner"
"has a street named after him — which is the street he lived on for some time up until his death in August 2010. On 29 January 2000, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Kokushikan University, a Japanese university known for its sport education and of which four alumni are Olympic gold medalists in judo, with the following praise: ヘーシンク氏は、一九六四年東京オリンピックにおいて、柔道無差別級で外国人選手として初めて金メダルを獲得し、その後、武道精神をもって国際平和に貢献するとともにオランダ・日本両国民の文化交流・友好関係の促進に努め、また柔道を教育学や生体学的角度から研究し、その普及発展のために尽力された。 武道の精神を重視する本大学は、柔道の国際的普及における同氏の功績を讃え、国士舘大学名誉博士の学位を贈呈した。 At the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, Mr. Geesink won the gold medal in the open class as the first non-Japanese. Since then, with the spirit of budō, he has contributed to the international peace and promoted the cultural exchange"
"championships took place in Tokyo, Japan in 1956. There were no weight classes at the time and Japanese judoka Shokichi Natsui became the first world champion in history, defeating fellow countryman Yoshihiko Yoshimatsu in the final. The second world championship was also held in Tokyo two years later, with the Japanese winning the top two spots in the competition for the second time. In 1961, the championship was held outside Japan for the first time, and Dutch judoka Anton Geesink defeated the prior world champion, Koji Sone, in Paris, France, to become the first non-Japanese world champion. The 1965 World"
"the 1964 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, and Kaminaga entered the competition bearing great expectations as the Japanese representative for the open weight category. However, he suffered a knee ligament injury shortly before the competition, and participated in the tournament hiding this injury. He reached the Olympic finals on October 23, but was defeated by Dutch judoka Anton Geesink, who pinned Kaminaga with a Kesa-Gatame to become the first non-Japanese judoka to win an Olympic medal in judo. Japan won all of the gold medals in the judo competition that year excluding Kaminaga's participation in the open weight competition, and"
"the FFJDA. He was also famous for defeating judo heavyweight Anton Geesink. Bernard Pariset Bernard Pariset (December 21, 1929 – November 26, 2004) was a French judoka and jujitsuka who studied with many Japanese masters including Jigoro Kano's student, Mikonosuke Kawaishi, and his assistant, Shozo Awazu. He was one of the few non-Japanese to reach the level of 9th Dan and has been officially recognized by both the French Judo and Ju-Jitsu Federation (FFJDA) and the IFNB (International Federation Nippon Budo). This title is not officially recognized by the Kodokan. Founder of the Atemi Ju-Jitsu system in the late 1940s,"
"Neil Adams (judoka) Neil Adrian Adams, (born 27 September 1958 in Rugby, Warwickshire) is an English judoka who won numerous Olympic and World Championship medals in judo representing Great Britain. Adams was educated at Myton School in Warwick. Adams' brother was the late professional wrestling star Chris Adams, who himself had a successful career in judo before turning to pro wrestling in 1978. Adams was the first British male to win a World title, and the first British male to simultaneously hold a world title and a European title. Other achievements include a gold medal at the 1981 World Judo"
"traveled to over 40 different countries all over the world. Adolf Zika Adolf Zika (born 1972, Prachatice, Czech Republic) is a Czech photographer. Adolf Zika was born in the then Czechoslovakia in 1972. He graduated from the School of Pedagogy and in 1988 became a member of the Center for Top Sports in Prague. He gained the title of Junior Champion of the country in judo, and earned a bronze medal in the European Junior Tournament in Vienna. In 1990, he traveled to Budo University in Katsura, Japan, where he underwent training under the best judo fighters in the world."
"1964 Games held in Tokyo are notable for heralding the modern age of telecommunications. These games were the first to be broadcast worldwide on television, enabled by the recent advent of communication satellites. The 1964 Games were thus a turning point in the global visibility and popularity of the Olympics. Judo debuted as an official sport, and Dutch judoka Anton Geesink created quite a stir when he won the final of the open weight division, defeating Akio Kaminaga in front of his home crowd. Performances at the 1968 Mexico City games were affected by the altitude of the host city,"
"a slightly higher activity. After graduating, Inokuma became a judo instructor for Juntendo University and the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. In 1965, he entered the Open weight class of the World Judo Championships intending to wrestle Dutch judo champion Anton Geesink, but Geesink went to the +80 kg division that year, and the two never faced off against one another. Both Geesink and Inokuma won gold medals in the competition, and Inokuma announced his retirement shortly afterwards, citing lack of motivation. In 1966, he resigned from his post at the Tokyo Police Department to become an executive at the Tokai"
"IOC. Geesink continued working for IOC until his death in 2010. Geesink was born and raised in Utrecht. His family was poor and he started work as a builder aged 12. He died in 2010 aged 76 in the town of his birth. He was survived by Jans Geesink, his wife of more than 50 years; his sons Willy and Anton; and daughter Leni. Geesink was chosen as the Dutch Sportsman of the Year in 1957, 1961, 1964 and 1965. He was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure by the Japanese government in 1997. His home town of Utrecht"
"in 1925. The first time judo was seen in the Olympic Games was in an informal demonstration hosted by Kano at the 1932 Games. However, Kano was ambivalent about judo's potential inclusion as an Olympic sport: Nevertheless, judo became an Olympic sport for men in the 1964 Games in Tokyo. The Olympic Committee initially dropped judo for the 1968 Olympics, meeting protests. Dutchman Anton Geesink won the first Olympic gold medal in the open division of judo by defeating Akio Kaminaga of Japan. The women's event was introduced at the Olympics in 1988 as a demonstration event, and an official"
"Federation has 148,599 members and is the eight largest sports federation. Famous competitors include Rie Mastenbroek, who won the gold medal at the 1936 Summer Olympics in the 100 m freestyle, 400 m and 4 × 100 m freestyle. Recent champions include triple Olympic gold medalists Pieter van den Hoogenband and Ranomi Kromowidjojo, four-time Olympic champion Inge de Bruijn, and the current world record holder of the 50 metres freestyle, Marleen Veldhuis. The Dutch Judo Federation in its current form was instituted on September 15, 1979. Anton Geesink was the first non-Japanese competitor to become World Champion in Judo in"
"Alice Schlesinger Alice Schlesinger (; born May 26, 1988) is an Israeli-British elite level judoka and sambo competitor. Born in Israel, she competed for that country until 2014, but following a dispute with the national federation she now competes for Great Britain, for whom she qualifies as she has citizenship through her English-born mother. Judo World Championship bronze medalist (2009), bronze medalist of Judo European Championships (2008, 2009, 2012), world champion in Sambo (2013, 2014), world champion in Kurash (2013). Schlesinger was born and raised in Herzliya, Israel. Her brother introduced her to the sport as a child and her"
"Adolf Zika Adolf Zika (born 1972, Prachatice, Czech Republic) is a Czech photographer. Adolf Zika was born in the then Czechoslovakia in 1972. He graduated from the School of Pedagogy and in 1988 became a member of the Center for Top Sports in Prague. He gained the title of Junior Champion of the country in judo, and earned a bronze medal in the European Junior Tournament in Vienna. In 1990, he traveled to Budo University in Katsura, Japan, where he underwent training under the best judo fighters in the world. After his return, he abruptly quit his judo career without"
"judoka. This title however is not officially ""recognized by the Kodokan"". Henri Courtine Henri Courtine (born 1930) is a French judoka who studied with Mikinosuke Kawaishi, and his assistant, Shozo Awazu. He received a bronze medal at the 1956 World Judo Championships in Tokyo, shared with Anton Geesink, after losing the semi final to winner Shokichi Natsui. He is three times individual European champion (1952, 1958 and 1959), and four times with the French team (1952, 1954, 1955 and 1956). He served as sports director of the International Judo Federation (IJF) from 1979 to 1987. Henri Courtine was honored the"
"Guusje van Mourik Guusje van Mourik (born October 5, 1955, Zeist, Netherlands) she is a Dutch karateka, judodka and boxer. She has a 4th Dan black belt in karate, and is the winner of multiple World Karate Championships, and is in ""The Guinness Book of Records"" for winning the most karate medals. She was four times world champion, six times European champion and twenty five times national champion in this discipline in the class 60+ kilograms. Also, she was once Taiko ( Japanese ' drumming ' ) world champion and won several medals at the Dutch Judo National Championships. Guusje"
"He announced his retirement in September 2012. During his career he studied economics and graduated as a Diplom Volkswirt. Ole Bischof Ole Bischof (born 27 August 1979 in Reutlingen) is a German judoka. He is trained by 1984 Olympic gold medalist Frank Wieneke. Bischof began in the TSG Reutlingen with judo. He became German champion at the age of 18 in 1997 in the age-group U21. Four years later, in 2001, he won the title of German champion in the Men's category. Following this, he won medals on more international competitions and became 2005 European champion. Since 2001, Bischof has"
"Wim Ruska Willem ""Wim"" Ruska (29 August 1940 – 14 February 2015) was a judoka from the Netherlands. He is the only athlete to win two gold medals in Judo in one Olympics – in the heavyweight and absolute categories in 1972. He started learning judo at the Dutch Navy, later traveling to Japan for further training. In the 1960s and 1970s, under the training of Jon Bluming, he won seven European titles, five in the +93 kg category (1966–67, 1969, 1971–72) and two in the open category (1969 and 1972). He furthermore won two world titles (1967 and 1971)"
"by the martial artist Donn F. Draeger calling his performance there a ""pitiful sight"" and mentioning that he was aging. Sone won a silver medal at the 1961 World Judo Championships in Paris, behind Anton Geesink. His loss against Geesink, 5th dan, was heralded as the end of the era in which the best Japanese judokas could not be defeated by foreigners. Within nine minutes of the 20-minute contest, a foot sweep forced Sone onto the ground where he was held for the necessary 30 seconds with a Mune-gatame. Despite that, many believed that Sone was the technically better judoka."
"Medal many years later. Nicolas Yonezuka Nicolas Yonezuka is a former American competitor in the sport of judo. He was born in 1965, and is from New Jersey. Yonezuka attended Watchung Hills Regional High School, where he made the schools Hall of Fame. He was taught judo by his father, Yoshisada Yonezuka. Nicolas was a 5 time US National Judo Champion, and qualified for the 1980 U.S. Olympic team but did not compete due to the U.S. Olympic Committee's boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Russia at the age of 16. He was one of 461 athletes to"
"not chosen as a Japanese representative at the World Championships held in Cairo. He has coached judo at Asahi Kasei since 2010. Among his students is Tatsuki Masubuchi Yohei Takai and so on. His younger brother, is also famous judoka and won a gold medal at the Kodokan Cup in 2001. Seigo Saito Saito is from Sapporo, Hokkaidō. He belonged to Asahi Kasei after graduation from Kokushikan University in 2000. Saito was good at Uchimata and Newaza in high-school days and was expected to get medal of Olympic Games or World Championships in the future. But he was not able"
"He is currently ranked fourth in the world. An was born to second generation Japanese-Korean parents. He was talent – scouted by the Japanese national judo team, but he declined citing he was discriminated against. He was offered a large sum of money to represent Japan. An began judo in first grade. He attended Kyoto City Hachijo Junior High School, where he began to compete. He was unable to compete internationally because he was not a naturalized Japanese. Before moving to Korea, An was a student at the University of Tsukuba, where he trained and was teammates with 2015 World"
"Firstly a fantastic judoka, then coach, as a result of which he showed the necessary involvement. Afterwards referee in the Netherlands, then Europe and afterwards globally and now Official in the EJU. That is the ideal career that the sports official must take to represent the associations and athletes at the highest levels of interests. Jan Snijders Jan Snijders (born September 14, 1943 in Eindhoven, North Brabant) is a retired judoka from the Netherlands. Together with his twin brother Peter Snijders, Anton Geesink, Hein Essink, Tonni Wagenaar, Coos Bontje, Jan van Ierland, Martin Poglajen, Joop Gouweleeuw, Wim Ruska, Ernst Eugster,"
"them all within about four seconds in full view of the press, but even so, Geesink did not step down to fight him. After watching Geesink's victory in Paris, a frustrated Bluming retired from competition and focused only on teaching instead. In 1965, Bluming became the first non-Japanese in being awarded the 6º dan in karate from Masutatsu Oyama. This decision was controversial enough among Asian karatekas to force Oyama to put a challenge in a magazine, challenging any of them to a fight against Bluming in a boxing ring and promising to strip him from the black belt if"
"Henri Courtine Henri Courtine (born 1930) is a French judoka who studied with Mikinosuke Kawaishi, and his assistant, Shozo Awazu. He received a bronze medal at the 1956 World Judo Championships in Tokyo, shared with Anton Geesink, after losing the semi final to winner Shokichi Natsui. He is three times individual European champion (1952, 1958 and 1959), and four times with the French team (1952, 1954, 1955 and 1956). He served as sports director of the International Judo Federation (IJF) from 1979 to 1987. Henri Courtine was honored the title ""jūdan"" (10th dan) in 2007, as the first ever French"
"twin brother Jan was known, or indeed notorious, for his technical perfection (Tai Otoshi). Snijders became in 1966, (80 kilogrammes class) and 1969, (93 kilogrammes class) European champion judo. In 1965, he gained, as substitute of Anton Geesink, the bronze medal in open-class during the world championships in Rio de Janeiro. After his career as a judoka he became pedagogue in penitentiary institutions. Today Peter Snijders teaches Judo in Heeze and Nuenen along with one of his former students Martin Mordang. As from 1 January 2009, he is running his own Judo club under the name 'Team Snijders'. Peter Snijders"
"Before the match, however, Geesink quit. The jubilant Japanese team carried Sone on their shoulders and paraded him around the gym. In 1977 he achieved the rank of 8th Dan. In 1981 he died of cerebral hemorrhage in Tokyo. Koji Sone He was born in the city Chichibu, Saitama and started judo in his childhood. His father was a 6th Dan in judo and his uncle a 9th Dan. Sone is a university-trained judoka from Meiji University. After that he belonged to Fuji Iron & Steel. As fifth dan, measuring 5 feet and 10 1/2 inches in height and weighing"
"Yoon Dong-sik Yoon Dong-Sik (윤동식, born August 24, 1973 in Seoul), often anglicised to Dong-Sik Yoon, is a South Korean judoka, and mixed martial artist. Before competing in MMA, Yoon was a well-known judoka with over 50 international judo competitions under his belt and had a winning streak of 47 straight victories without conceding a single koka, with notable wins over World champions and Olympic gold-medalists such as Makoto Takimoto, Mark Huizinga, Jeon Ki-Young and Toshihiko Koga. Despite his impressive résumé, Yoon never competed in the Olympics; hence he was given a nickname ""Judo King Without a Crown"". Yoon made"
"an informal quiz/comedy show. He was rated with an intelligence quotient of 142, an all-time record on the show. Mark Huizinga Mark Huizinga (born September 10, 1973) is a Dutch judoka and Olympic champion. Huizinga was born in Vlaardingen, Zuid-Holland in Netherlands in 1973. He won the gold medal in the men's under 90 kg class at the 2000 Summer Olympics by defeating Brazil's Carlos Honorato by ippon. He took bronze at the 1996 and 2004 Summer Olympics. Other laurels include five European Championships and a bronze medal at the 2005 World Judo Championships. Huizinga retired after the 2008 Olympics."
"Frank Wieneke Frank Wieneke (born January 31, 1962 in Hannover) is a German judoka and olympic champion. He won a gold medal in the ""half middleweight division"" at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. He is a member of Germany's Sports Hall of Fame. Among other accomplishments, he became an Olympic gold medalist in the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, and a silver medalist in the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, both in the half-middleweight class. In addition, he was seven-time champion at the international or German national levels, and was once European champion and twice runner-up in"